The company that splintered from Nokia to resurrect MeeGo shows its first phone.

The Finnish mobile phone company Jolla unveiled on Monday its first smartphone running Sailfish OS, the spiritual successor to Nokia’s MeeGo. The phone, which is also named “Jolla,” will retail for €399 and features a user-replaceable battery and the ability to run Android apps.

A number of Nokia employees splintered off from the company last July with the intent of taking MeeGo to the heights they thought it was destined for. MeeGo had been jointly developed by Intel and Nokia as a combination of the two companies’ Moblin and Maemo projects.

Sailfish OS is based on Mer, an open-source OS that was part of MeeGo. The developers unveiled a concept device back in November, and the Jolla represents the actual product the company intends to ship.

The Jolla has a 4.5-inch “Estrade” display, an unspecified dual-core processor, 16GB of internal storage plus a microSD slot, and an 8-megapixel rear camera. The phone also has a stylized feature called “The Other Half,” a shell that clips onto the back of the phone and comes in colors including teal, red, and light green. Clipping these shells onto the phone also changes the color theme of the OS.

While the phone is now available for preorders, Jolla promises a delivery date no sooner than the “end of 2013, subject to demand in your local market.” That’s asking for quite a leap of faith for a virtually unknown device and operating system, but MeeGo diehards may be more than ready to take that step.

Well, their site has no video of the OS itself running and they won't ship until the end of 2013. I might be wrong, but I don't think they stand a chance in the market (even bigger companies are struggling).

Hmm, info and screenshots/videos of the OS are sparse indeed. Not sure how many pre-orders they'll generate with so little info available. After all, look at Samsung's marketing juggernaut. Info is king in this business.

Hmm, info and screenshots/videos of the OS are sparse indeed. Not sure how many pre-orders they'll generate with so little info available. After all, look at Samsung's marketing juggernaut. Info is king in this business.

It appears to be another "If you build it, they will come," marketing plan.

Which nobody apparently told them is also known by another, less 'magical' name: "Wishful Thinking".

I'm definitely interested in this, but I want to see more detailed specs before I order one. I'd prefer a device with a physical keyboard, but this OS seems interesting. I've been very happy with my N900, but the ability to run Android apps would be a nice bonus. 16GB internal memory is a bit disappointing considering my 3.5 year old N900 has 32GB, but since it has a microSD slot, this isn't a serious problem.

Cool. I like what I've seen of the OS so far, and getting confirmation that it can run Android apps can make it practical as well. On the hardware front this checks most of my important boxes, SD slot, removable battery, and 4.5" I think is just about the perfect balance for screen size. I don't suppose it comes with a stylus?

The only way I'd be interested in this (or Ubuntu Touch, or any other "real Linux" phone OS) is if it had a dock that connects to a screen, mouse, and keyboard, can install desktop Linux applications, and lets me ditch my laptop 90% of the time I use it currently. This is a completely untapped niche that could get many fans the moment it's released.

If Microsoft has no chance, and they appear to have none, these guys the biggest fools ever. Or, their investors are.

That assumes that the only "success" is to dominate the market. Just because McDonald's & BK are the biggest, doesn't mean there aren't profitable smaller businesses. This is a bit harder for an OS, where you have to depend on the support of app developers, but compatibility with Android apps helps a bit in that regard. I have no expectation that they'll ever dominate the market like Android and iOS do, and I doubt that they have that expectation either. If they can be profitable and maintain their business on a smaller scale, I see no reason not to consider that a success.

This is a real Linux phone, people. No neutered functionality- just pure, liquid badassery.

People have grown so unnecessarily pessimistic over the mobile market, dooming everyone to fail, but if Jolla does it right, they can get plenty of customers to sustain their efforts. They've already come this far, and they've taken a healthy, community-oriented approach to building their ecosystem. I think there's a lot to gain, here, and I always thought MeeGo could succeed. The N9 was a great product with a successful launch, hindered only by Nokia's poor decision-making. As Jolla is completely invested in Sailfish, I have no doubt they will give it more than a fighting chance.

I'm definitely buying a Jolla, and I encourage anyone who wants an innovative, modern, personal experience (without leaving behind their Android apps ) to do so, as well.

Hmm, info and screenshots/videos of the OS are sparse indeed. Not sure how many pre-orders they'll generate with so little info available. After all, look at Samsung's marketing juggernaut. Info is king in this business.

It appears to be another "If you build it, they will come," marketing plan.

Which nobody apparently told them is also known by another, less 'magical' name: "Wishful Thinking".

I can't even understand why they are devoting resources to this. By the time this phone sees the light of day, the Google and Apple ecosystems will each probably have over a million apps.

And I doubt many developers are yearning for yet another platform to support.

It seems good compared to what is on the market, ticking all the boxes and adding a intriguing addition, other half back covers with electrical connectors to added peripherals.

But it isn't the second coming, as no phone can be.

I'll agree that I probably have inflated expectations, but since almost all current smartphones suck both as a phone and as a pocketable computer, I always have a tendency to put too much hope into something that promises better. The fact that these guys have the Maemo/Meego pedigree just adds to the hope that we can at least get functionality equivalent to what was available in NITs in 2008.

If Microsoft has no chance, and they appear to have none, these guys the biggest fools ever. Or, their investors are.

That assumes that the only "success" is to dominate the market. Just because McDonald's & BK are the biggest, doesn't mean there aren't profitable smaller businesses. This is a bit harder for an OS, where you have to depend on the support of app developers, but compatibility with Android apps helps a bit in that regard. I have no expectation that they'll ever dominate the market like Android and iOS do, and I doubt that they have that expectation either. If they can be profitable and maintain their business on a smaller scale, I see no reason not to consider that a success.

I just read somewhere on wikipedia that Canonical and Jolla are working together on making compatible API for Sailfish and Ubuntu Phone. I have to say that this is awesome idea. I really am looking forward to Jolla and Ubuntu phones.

I do appreciate that they are releasing just one phone to start: this is the initial presentation and the focus is on getting this one right before looking into other devices. Just one model too, and with the SD slot everyone wants. I wonder if the backs can do anything other than just change the theme color would be awesome if there was a way to swap the back for one that added an external battery, or included a sliding keyboard, or even a dock back that gave HDMI and USB ports for a dock able phone.

Just watched one of the videos of the OS in action and pretty impressed by the short preview. Seems to have a lot of nice usability features in an attractive package. I'll only be halfway through my Verizon contract by the time the phone is released, but I'm still really tempted.

Cool. On the hardware front this checks most of my important boxes, SD slot, removable battery, and 4.5" I think is just about the perfect balance for screen size. I don't suppose it comes with a stylus?

The user experience will almost certainly be subpar until it gets to v2 or v3 (if it can last that long).

The only way I'd be interested in this (or Ubuntu Touch, or any other "real Linux" phone OS) is if it had a dock that connects to a screen, mouse, and keyboard, can install desktop Linux applications, and lets me ditch my laptop 90% of the time I use it currently. This is a completely untapped niche that could get many fans the moment it's released.

I would think that that would be a useful bit of info to include in the stories, but the techcrunch one is the only one I have found yet that gives any depth beyond "colored cases that change the theme. woohoo."

Or I guess maybe the others had it in video. I am not going to watch that shit, though. We invented written language for a reason, dammit!

It's niche, but that may be the smart way to go as the market is so saturated that making another droid phone won't get you anywhere. The question is whether the niche is so small that it will prohibit profitability.